The Flight and Fall of a Dragon
by Silent Knightinggale
Summary: The Exalt had fallen. Robin had become what she was destined to be, the fell dragon Grima. However, those in power always fear the day they will lose it. Fearing Lucina's motivations, the tainted tactician goes back in time to find herself and claim her powers once again. Unfortunately for her, the power's not quite enough. She'll have to watch and wait for her chance to rise.
1. Hatchling

How had this happened?

In a matter of seconds, everything had fallen apart. The unforgiving stone below her feet seemed to shoot cold arrows up her legs, rooting her to the spot. The dreaded sound of laughter rang in her ears, slamming inside of her brain and leaving her dazed, almost distant—or even nonexistent. This stone 'table' had stolen away everything in the span of her heart's dull pulsing. To make everything worse, this had all happened by _her_ hand.

That thought alone made her sick beyond belief.

"Oh, what a shame," That harsh, grating sound evolved from slashing laughter into the quick jabs of speech, each word feeling like the thrust of a knife and the twist of the blade. "Looks like the little princeling isn't so good at dodging magic after all!"

Her head whipped around to find a pair of gleaming orange orbs glaring down at her feet, focused with a twisted satisfaction at what lay before her. Her own eyes, now a fainter shade of tangerine, shivered at the sight of this spindly, robed figure beside her own. This voice and gleaming eyes belonged to a man she knew too well, a man she was forever linked to by the worst thing possible—by blood.

She futily tried to gulp down the fear, that burning nausea at what she had done, but it was all just a dry, quivering lump of disgust in her throat. All warmth fled her form as she stood there, gasping for air and staring with horror at the dark, black rings around his yellowing eyes. Her mind raced to process what had just happened, to comprehend how everything had gone so _wrong_ within so little time. The cold slowly spread through the trails of veins inside her paling skin, trapping her with chilled nails and gripping her tightly, holding her rigid and taunt. She wanted more than anything to grab this man by his scrawny, bony throat and choak the life out of him, or better yet, to watch him bleed at her feet. Instead, all she could do was feel that burning in her throat and the cold shiver in her palms.

"Now, my dear," She couldn't even move as that disgusting man slowly hobbled over to her, his long nails clawing at the scruffy bread that adorned his pointed chin. "There's no need for tears." Tears? She hadn't even been able to process that the itching, burning sensation inside her eyes was the reason behind the blurring of greys and purples in front of her. She had been far too fixated on the cold hysteria in her bloodstream at this point.

The man continued on with his rambling, his voice wheezing out between withheld chuckles. "Such things are necessary for larger gains, you know." He smiled at this, even though she was drawing ragged, half-finished breaths at this point. "You will see soon that all that little prince was doing was holding you back from reaching your full potential." Her eyes, still an orange shade despite the end of the battle happening long ago, narrowed into slits. "That man was worthless compared to what you will soon become, what you will receive as your most generous reward!"

It was at this point in time that something inside of herself, something she held back so tightly, burst free.

Before she could even think, her body lunged for that monster in human flesh and attacked with an inhuman fury. Her bloodied blade, soiled with so many fallen foes, jumped out of its sheath and raced to cut down this twisted man. The dark crimson, almost blackened blade struck him right in the stomach, leaving the satisfying sight of a ripped robe and a trickle of ruby liquid leaking out from his broken, grey skin. Despite the shrunken size of the cut, the metallic stench of blood still raced to fill her nose, encouraging her on with the promise of his demise.

However, the man had other plans.

With a quick swipe of the air, an overwhelming burst of magic grabbed her thin form and flung her backwards, forcing the blade from her hands and sending it crashing to the stones below. Only a few seconds passed before the blade's wielder joined her weapon, her right cheek scraping across the floor and burning with pain. The woman cringed from the pulsing in her face before weakly lifting her eyes. The familiar burning of horror and anger seeped back into her throat.

The sight before her, lying motionless on the ground, was too much to even process. To see _him_ like this, his blue locks swept around his forehead, plastered to his whitened skin by sweat and blood...to see the man she loved so much just _gone_... It was a horrible thing. Something like this should never have happened, not to him. This fury bubbled up in her throat, forcing her muscles to push upon the ground and force her up, her chest only mere inches from the stained stone below.

"Y-You monster," her voice gurgled out of her mouth, obscured by the sharp blade of pain and the raw hatred in her chilled chest. Her eyes lifted to shoot a dangerous glare at this man before her, focusing on the glowing eyes and split grin. "I would _never_ see you killing my husband as a gift!" The man gave her a glare of his own before letting his claw-like fingertips drift down to the fresh wound, allowing them to become covered in the oozing red. "I'm going to kill you, Validar!" The woman was growling at this point and was just starting to rise to her knees. "I'll cut you down with my own blade and watch you take your last breath, I swear it!"

At her threats, Validar simply laughed and shook his head.

"Silence your tongue, young one." His voice shifted to a mocking coo, each sound still wet with that disgusting darkness. His eyes narrowed as he went on, a smile growing upon his lips. "You seem to be forgetting the very simple fact that it was _your_ hand that dealt the blow, not mine." The woman's orange-tinted browns widened with both horror and tears as the man continued. "Do you so soon forget that rush of power that flooded your veins in that single instant?" Validar's grin cracked his face in two, giving more fuel to the brunette's rage. "That my dear was the blood of a dragon racing through your very soul; it was the very essence of power! You hold so much at your fingers, and yet you refuse to simply reach out and grasp it—"

"I don't want power!" The woman cut him off swiftly, her eyes slamming shut as she struggled to regain a firm stance on the floor. "Bloodlust is the makings of a monster, and I refuse to fall to such a level!" The man's grin faltered as this woman, his very own daughter, defiantly glared at him. "I want nothing to do with Grima or your obsession for power!"

Validar just shook his head before lifting a crimson-kissed hand and waved his long fingertips. "Ah, but you already hold Grima within yourself, dear daughter! All you simply have to do is _listen_!"

It was at this very second that a harsh ringing invaded the woman's ears, forcing her to clutch her head and let out a yell of pain. Her short-lived standing crumbled below her and sent her crashing to her knees. Her vision blurred and swayed as suddenly a sharp whisper invaded her mind, lacking in words but overwhelming in tone. Tears streamed down her face as she found herself overwhelmed by a wave of violence, forcing in her mind the stench of blood. Instead of the horrible knot in her stomach, a disgusting sense of embrace filled her body at the smell, as if she was a beast in human flesh. The rush of adrenaline beckoned her back with the thrill of battle, replacing all systems with only thoughts and sensations of battle, victory and worst of all, ruthlessness. The terrified brunette shook her head, trying to clear her mind, but it was of no use. Her thoughts were now far beyond her own control.

"Robin..." A whisp of a voice merged with these dark thoughts, calling out her name despite being unfamiliar to her. "Robin..." The young woman groaned with an inner pain, but such protests were nothing to ward off such conflictions of the mind. This voice carried on with its haunting whispers, taking a grip on her subconscious. "Let go...release the energy...embrace the power within yourself..."

"I-I...can't..." Robin gasped out her words, arguing with the very voice in her head. "If I give in...I'll die...I'll die to it..."

"You will not die." The voice was calm and hushed, like a mother soothing her grieving child. "This power is your gift. Why would you push aside such a lovely thing as this? Imagine what you could do with such a thing; imagine the rush of having so much simply handed to you! You could be invincible—immortal! You would never need fear of death again, Robin."

Just as a wounded animal is lured in to a trap, so was the young woman to the voice's promises. Her resolve, once so solid, had now started to crumble. "I-I...would never fear death again?" A slight glimmer could be seen within Validar's eyes as his daughter's lip quivered with a weak fear. "I would...be stronger?" Pale hands curled their fingers as the thought of such a wonderful thing fluttered in her mind.

"You wouldn't fear a single thing ever again..." That little voice sounded quite pleased with her sudden wavering will. "Just let go...everything will be just fine." Robin's mind nearly numbed within the dark cloud inside her thoughts, but not before trying one last effort in keeping her from straying. Abruptly, a flash of a smiling face filled her mind, a man with blue hair and eyes to match. This man was not just any man, but her husband, sworn to be her second half to her whole. But, because of a sudden switch, he was now lying on the floor, motionless and silent forever. This one face was enough for her to falter, for her to regain some sort of warning against such an offer.

Unfortunately, that little voice was more than ready for such a counter.

Within only a heartbeat, a warmth over flooded the woman's veins, overtaking her suspicions and erasing that one last hope against this mental intruder. This newest sensation filled her skin with what felt like a gentle flame, warming her insides until her fingers curled with comfort. Robin let out a sharp exhale as her fears—those horrible, overwhelming monsters within herself—suddenly vanished with the face of her fallen love. That horrible fear of death was gone and instead replaced with something far more superior.

Her fear had been replaced with _power_.

Validar, being the patient man he was, grinned at the sight of his daughter's even breathing. Such a sign could only mean one thing and one thing alone; Robin had accepted Grima's offer of power after all. His shrewd eyes gleamed at the thought before he regained some sort of composure, the man forcing himself to hold his thoughts of triumph.

"Well my dear," his best efforts of a whisper instead came out as an echoed speech, loud and scratching upon one's ears. "How does it feel to have so much in the palm of your hand? It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it?" The brunette on her knees said nothing, only closed her eyes and breathed in a muted chuckle. The sorcerer waited for a few moments before pressing his question once again. "Robin, can you hear me?"

The young woman let out a terrible, echoing laugh before rising to her feet ever so slowly, her face twisting into a terrible grin. Her eyelids fluttered for a moment before snapping open and revealing horrible orbs of orange surrounded by a sea of yellow, glowing in the place of her brown eyes. The woman lifted her chin with a smirk, her eyes piercing straight through the thin man before her. She then spoke with a voice that was not her own, dripping with hate.

"I am not Robin. I am the mighty fell dragon, Grima."

* * *

_Author's Note: Took a hiatus for a few months and came back with a new project. Sorta wished I could have used that time to work on a few other things as well, but I'm more than content with what I did accomplish.  
_

_So, hey there! Knightinggale here with "The Flight and Fall of a Dragon"! As you may have guessed, this fiction follows Grima!Robin instead of the usual Robin-centeric views. So, in a way, I guess you could say we're following Grima's point of view? Either way, we're going to be having a bit of a different journey. This series is almost like a collection of important moments in time, not just a linear, day-to-day fiction. Otherwise, we'd have just chapters upon chapters of Grima killing people, burning villages and causing massive destruction. Sounds exciting, but it gets boring when you're constantly reading/writing that._

_Anyway, I hope you stick around to see the rest of Grima's story unfold!_


	2. Streching her Wings

_**Part II: Stretching her Wings**_

* * *

Several years passed after that day in the depths of Plegian territory. During this dreadful time, the woman once known as Robin succumbed to the fell dragon's grip and became the dragon's human host, taking over her mind and causing vast amounts of destruction in his true, scale-covered form. Validar, once he had outlived his part in reviving the fell dragon, was used to feed the monster's horrible appetite for the souls of man. Once Grima had repaid the sorcerer, the dragon set his sights on bringing destruction upon the world. Plegia, being so close to him was naturally the first target and soon the desert kingdom was engulfed in flames. Sand became glass under his burning breath, stained red with the blood of innocent villages. The war-torn kingdom fell within a few weeks, unable to stand against the very dragon they worshiped. Then his crimson eyes moved to Ferox, where the pickings were slightly less compliant to his demands. Even with the warrior nation fighting against him, much of the southern and western parts of the arctic landscape fell to his eager claws. And thus, within only a short time, Plegia fell to the dragon's claws, taking a sizable chunk of the neighboring Regna Ferox as a parting gift. The only realm still surviving by Grima's standards was Ylisse—and that was only with a population of just under one million, a substantial drop from the great sixteen million it had boasted before the dragon's return.

Inside of the fell dragon's mind, in a corner hidden by thoughts of destruction and violence rested what remained of the once great tactician of Ylisse. The brunette curled upon herself, feeling the darkness flood her veins and seep from her fingertips as a swirling purple storm that engulfed her shrunken form in the overwhelming black. Every breath of fire, swipe of claw and curse was reflected by her own motions to the point that she was the dragon itself, raging against her home without remorse or any sort of feeling beside rage and a strange sense of loss that lingered in the back of her throat like bile.

Through Grima's eyes she could see everything; all of the flames, death and misery was hers to see and hers to take the blame for. Even so, Robin simply stood there and watched as her home crumbled to gravel. The great tactician of Ylisse was long gone. Grima was all that was left of her now. On that fateful day she had taken the fell dragon's power, she had lost nearly all of herself. She was now only the bloodlust and anger; all else had died and withered on the table of stone.

Within this veil of black the brunette slowly rose to her feet, her body swaying with an uncertain stance. Her glowing eyes, once a beautiful shade chocolate had now melted into an overpowering orange surrounded by a vibrant yellow, the two illuminating this bleak corner with unsettling force. These two orbs narrowed at what stood before her; right at the dragon's feet stood a ghost of her past with her sword raised in defiance. This young form stood tall with billowing breath, her eyes wild with both pain and fear, something she had grown so used to seeing. Despite herself, Robin took a step forward with confusion in her eyes. The fell dragon stood still as the captive woman moved about her blackened prison. A pale hand reached out with outstretched fingers, futily reaching for this female form.

"It's over, Grima!" Her voice gurgled out of a tightened throat, burning through the woman's ears. "I shall not let you destroy Ylisse any longer!" The young woman's hair, a brilliant shade of blue, fluttered in a sudden burst of wind. Her eyes shimmered with tears of anger, accenting the blue depths. "Today is the day that you shall die, you monster." Her voice quivered as the captive host could only watch on in a strange state of emptiness. Robin faintly knew this woman, but how? It had been so long since she had wandered free of the dragon's grip. How could this young woman seem so familiar to her when she had been so isolated for so long? Her glowing eyes scanned the stubborn figure before the great fell dragon's claws. Standing with ragged breaths was a young woman cloaked in blue, with the only splash of separate colors being the brown belt around her chest and the lining of her cape being a bright red that fluttered in the face of the huge lizard. Resting upon her head was a slight flash of gold, a petite tiara that was nearly swallowed by her blue locks. The tactician's eyes narrowed as she sought to place those burning eyes, those haunting, piercing azure eyes that were glaring defiantly into Grima's burning crimson orbs.

"Chrom?" A broken whisper slipped from her lips as she found a foggy face drift to her mind. Robin stared at this form to a while before she sadly shook her head. No, this was certainly not Chrom. Her beloved prince had died what felt like years ago and this woman may have a striking resemblance, but she could not be her lost swordsman. Her eyes suddenly widened as she found a bolt of recognition strike her mind and leave a smouldering answer.

"...Lucina." Her mouth twisted into a wry grin at the realization that the young woman before her was none other than the precious daughter she had left behind in the grand castle of Ylisstol. Ah, such a thing seemed forever ago... Had it really been so long that her own little girl had grown up into a woman already? Her eyes dropped for a split second before she was suddenly clutching her head in pain. That horrible sound, that sharp ringing returned to her head once again, cancelling out any and all thoughts of her little girl.

With a shaking inhale, her head lifted once again. The brunette opened her eyes to flash the darkness with her bright yellow and orange, her mind closing once again as her fingertips dripped with a purple fog. The dragon took a shaking step forward and the tactician's freedom was revoked. Her own movements once again mimicked the great beast, serving as nothing more than the husk of a host.

"_So, tiny one,_" the dragon rumbled with amusement. "_You have decided to return to your crumpled home._" Grima's claws shifted on the pile of rubble below him, teasing the human. "_It seems you are as stubborn and foolish as your parents were._" His eyes narrowed as he watched the girl shift and hold her father's sword stubbornly in her quivering hands. "_Fear not, little one. I will be sure to reunite your pathetic family soon enough._"

Unexpectedly, Lucina let out a chuckle at the dragon's threat. Crimson eyes narrowed in questioning only seconds before she lifted her head and shot him a bitter grin. "That is where you are wrong, Grima. You see, I will see my parents again, only by my _own _doing. I am going to stop you with Naga's aid and so help me I _will_ slay you!" The black dragon just laughed at her sudden boldness, the whole world seemingly shaking from the sound.

"_Naga?_" His eyes glinted with the light amusement in his tone. "_You truly believe that such a weak force can help you now, tiny one?_" Blue orbs quivered for a fraction of a heartbeat before they snapped back to their angry slits once again. "_Naga is dead! She cannot help you, just as she failed to protect your father!_" Lucina simply shook her head and let out a sharp exhale.

"Not while I hold the Emblem, Grima."

The result was instantaneous. Red orbs snapped to full size as a glow overwhelmed the young woman. A roar of rejection rumbled out of his throat as a large, scaly hand reached out for her small frame. The blue-haired woman quickly gave the beast a slash on the base of his paw, forcing him to release a harsh scream. Lucina then raced away with heavy blue boots, slipping out through a crumbling wall. Grima's head snapped to find her taking off eastward, heading to the one place she would ever go to with a precious item—Mt. Prism.

"_No! I shall not allow such a thing to slip through my claws!_" The fell dragon roared with anger, splitting the dusty heavens with his voice. Soon enough, pale forms rose from the very earth, materializing out of the same purple smog that covered the trapped tactician. Risen, with glowing eyes and gasping mouths tumbled out of the broken wall to give chase, leaving the fell dragon behind. Their master watched on with a glare of fury before curling around himself and snarling. The great beast unfurled his gleaming claws to revealing the gash on his foot. "_Such an insolent youth,_" he rumbled to himself and the host inside him. "_To actually strike me with the Falchion! She will pay for her boasting very soon..._" Grima then closed his eyes and let out a harsh breath, letting purple smog slip from his ghastly jaws. This violent smoke wrapped around itself to create a tornado of thunder, crackling with untold energy. With a swipe of his paw to clear it away, a thin form dropped to the ground. A dark cloak covered them as they shakily rose to their feet, a pale hand outstretched as to find some sort of support. The dragon simply ignored her struggle and let out a rumble, forcing their attention.

Their hood dropped to reveal long brown locks pulled back into a high ponytail with bangs sweeping over her forehead and a stubborn cowlick upon the crown of her head. With her head lifted high, the woman opened her eyes and grinned at the great dragon. The fell dragon simply rumbled at her pleasure and instead tipped his great head towards the gaping hole in the wall where Lucina had slipped away. The fallen brunette slowly lost her grin as she turned towards the crumbling wall. Her orange eyes narrowed in questioning before turning her attention back to Grima.

"_I will not allow her to escape._" The dragon glared down at Robin, curling his claws impatiently. "_As my other half, you must not allow her to preform the Awakening,_" he growled. "_As weak, pathetic and helpless as that girl is...Preforming Naga's rites would give her the slimmest chance in crumbling my efforts._"

The brunette frowned before looking back up towards his burning red eyes. "So, you want me to intercept the princess before she can reach the mountain?" A bit of a chuckle escaped her bloodied lips before she continued on, "It seems like such an easy task. Do you really think that she could avoid or even _attempt_ to destroy the vast army of Risen we have posted there?" Grima did not answer right away, instead choosing to dig his claws into the scorched stone below his feet.

With a grumble of a breath, the black dragon wrapped his large tail around his feet and before the woman could react, used the tip of his tail to lift her level to his jaws. Hot, putrid air rushed out from behind his fearsome teeth and rustled her hair, but she ignored it. Instead, she rested comfortably on his blackish and crimson tail fan and waited for Grima to speak. "_If that tiny female is anything like her father, she could very well prove to be a threat. We simply cannot allow her to use Naga's powers against us; if that pitiful excuse for a dragon lent her aid, we could potentially lose some of our precious power._" At his words, the brunette's hand raced to the neglected sheath at her hip.

"I can assure you, no such thing will happen. That pesky girl may try to preform the Awakening, but she will never escape the fate that befell her father." Grima narrowed his eyes for a heartbeat before allowing her to continue. "I will personally see to it that her last breath will pass through her lips very soon. You will soon see that she is nothing more than an infant trying to take up the sword her father dropped. Her father was the _only_ valid threat to our rule." The fell dragon roared at her confidence before pressing his nose closer to the pale nose of his counterpart.

"_And what of her mother,_" the dragon pressed. "_Will her mother interfere with her attempts at saving her skin or will her daughter be left to die as her father was?_" He didn't have to wait long for an answer. The young woman in his grasp simply stood tall as a faint ghost of a grin slipped to her mouth. Suddenly, she was grinning a toothy variety of self-satisfaction, exposing overly long canines as her scaly counterpart just watched on. Then, with her amber and tangerine eyes glittering, the air erupted with laughter. Grima let a few laughs of his own slip out of his putrid breath as the woman once known as Robin just shook with her own amusement. Slowly, the sound faded away as the woman slipped into a grin and uttered the words that erased all signs of the emotions displayed within the depths of the dragon's mind.

"What mother? That woman died so long ago, right beside her laughable excuse for a prince."

* * *

_Author's Note: We're going to have a bit of a slow start, but things will get better. I hope my writing isn't rusty after such a long break... How am I doing? Please don't hesitate to leave a review to tell me what you think of the story! It really helps with getting these chapters out faster, you know. _


	3. A Different Kind of Suicide

_**~Part III: A Different Kind of Suicide**_

* * *

Orange eyes narrowed in disgust at the sight before her. Right in the heart of Ylisstol's crumpled castle, floating just inches from her reach was the result of the dolt of a princess' connection to Naga the divine dragon. Rippling like the most pristine of lakes was a portal forged from Naga's own claws, providing the one chance Lucina had at saving her home. Robin simply chuckled at the sight before reaching to her cheek and thumbing the thin river of blood dripping from a self-inflicted wound. She had thought that when the princess contacted Naga and preformed the Awakening, the young mouse would choose to slay the terrible Grima and free her world from its rightful ruler, not flee like the rodent she was. Her eyes fluttered shut as she lifted the stained thumb to her lips and absently licked the metallic liquid from her paling skin. She must admit, the girl was either a genius or a coward. Such a portal was not for quick transport to another location on this world. Oh, not at all. Instead such a portal was used for something much more complicated, something that could threaten everything the fell dragon had achieved.

This bright, glowing portal of blue was used to travel back into the past.

"Well, well," she breathed. "It seems little Lucina is a bit more stubborn than we thought." Her tainted hand lifted from her lips to give her fingers enough space to curl over themselves until her claw-like nails dug into her skin. "Trying to go back in time to fight her fate, eh?" She let out a chuckle and shook her head. "A pitiful waste of her time. Destiny is something far more solid than she could ever know; even if she did manage to change one small detail in that time, the events leading to now would still happen. Time is such a fickle thing. It truly hates being messed around with by a little girl."

Her heavy brown boots broke the silence as she took a step forward, relishing in the discovery of the blue-haired woman's escape plan. The quiet murmur from the portal seemed to beckon her onwards with hushed voices and cool winds that caressed her cheeks. Her fingers stretched outwards towards the swirling pool, stopping only inches from breaching the calm ripples. This portal was quite a find, especially as it not only provided a means of following that child and her friends but also a way to expand her reign. All she would have to do is search out herself in that land and take her powers, and she would have the utter bliss of resurrecting Grima—her true form—nearly a decade early. She could stop her pest with a trip of her own. A sinister grin took over her features as she eagerly thrust her hand out toward the blue and shivered as the cool air proved to be nothing in comparison to the chill of the portal itself.

"You may _think _that you've bested me, little Lucina, but you are sadly mistaken. You see, all you have done is given me yet another world to rule over! Grima will rule this world, tiny one. You just wait and see..." Then, with one last breath of the dismal future's oxygen, the 'Grima-Robin' took a few quick steps backwards and grinning at the soothing colors floating in front of her.

With one hand clasping her beloved Wrymsblood's hilt, Robin dashed ahead and leaped through the portal, diving into the past.

It was as if she was thrown into a river. Her first feeling was nothing more than shock as a chill went down her spine and spread through her thin frame. All around her was that earlier, peaceful blue swirl until it abruptly became corrupted and corroded into a dark, dripping mass of black. She could feel time itself tugging at her from all angles, desperate to keep her rooted to her own timeline. Her lips curled into a snarl as she painfully bucked and and struggled against the strange force trying to keep her from trailing the young princess. She _was_ going to catch her, whether the portal wanted her to or not! Her hand desperately clasped Wrymsblood until her knuckles turned white from the fear of losing her beloved sword in the struggle. The brunette let out an inhuman snarl as her legs flailed in place, trying to land on something solid. With a forceful grunt, the tactician threw herself forward and crashed into a solid form of black foam. Her chin lifted in appraisal before she clenched her teeth and walked forwards.

"How quaint," she sneered. "Naga literally made a path from the past to our time." Her glowing eyes narrowed as her voice echoed around her while ever other noise was somehow missing from its usual attachments. "One would think that even _with_ her power fading, she would be able to create something just a bit more...direct." Her feet moved silently across the swirling pathway, her eyes trained ahead of her. Slowly but surely she walked on, searching for an exit. Had she not been a god of destruction as she was now, she would have worried that she was trapped within these walls of darkness forever. However, she knew otherwise that Naga was too 'caring' to create something that could trap its user inside itself.

Her feet stopped dead when she found the exit.

The reasoning behind such a lackluster path was the fact that the pathway itself connected to multiple exits, each one occurring in a different time and location. A bit of a grin surfaced on Robin's face as she found twelve exits, each showing exactly where each of the children had escaped to. Her eyes flickered to a group of thieves with a jumpy taguel, an eccentric swordsman in a small village and a young mage wandering with confused eyes in the desert. Her smile parted to slip a laugh before she shook her head and savored the scene before her.

"Oh, you pathetic dears!" Her laughter shook the small space before she had a chance to continue her taunts. Her claws lifted to stroke the nearest portal, showing her a lost manakete with red hair clutching her dragonstone fearfully. "Had you not enough sense to stay together?" Her eyes narrowed in amusement as she went on, "Were you so scared that you simply ran ahead without thinking of each other?" She laughed once again before searching for her desired target, a young princess with blue hair. Her eyes stopped upon a flash of azure in a sea of orange. Her lips split yet another grin as little Lucina found her destination blocked by an army of Risen, holding her back from the desired escape.

"Well." Her fingers twisted around a long strand of chocolate as she grinned at the trapped princess. "Isn't that a lovely sight. Looks like my escorts found her after all." Tangerine eyes then turned to one unused portal leading to a warm sea of golden grasses and a welcoming dirt road. The fresh curl slipped from her grasp as she found herself gawking at this lonesome exit. This open road was achingly familiar to her to the point that it was actually causing a physical pain in chest. She growled as she glared at the empty road. "A thirteenth path?" The brunette found herself muttering to herself as her boots moved with a mind of their own, shifting towards this path. "Naga must have miscounted her little urchins." Her unsure face slowly transformed into one of self-satisfaction as her hand reached out for this floating field.

"All the better for me!"

Robin then launched herself through the portal once again, relishing in the air that teased her hair and tried to desperately push her away from this peaceful place. Her feet screamed as they slammed against the well-trodden dirt that stretched before her. Yellow and orange eyes gleamed as she crouched against the earth, breathing in the sweet scents of grass, clean air and an early summer breeze. Her heart strangely raced with excitement, causing the woman to rise to her feet and draw her stained blade. A fresh breeze rustled the ends of her cloak, billowing it out like a cape. Her eyes scanned ahead of her, searching the horizon. She must be a good amount of years in the past, but just how many escaped her. She knew this field well, almost too well. And, if her memories were right, someone else would be traveling down this path as well.

Robin smirked to herself as she walked ahead, her feet trotting against the dirt and adding a fresh set of bootprints. A quick glance down and she found a matching set of tracks just beside her own, moderately fresh and spaced out enough to suggest that the culprit was moving along at a brisk pace. A chuckle met the warming, early morning air as she slowly lifted her gaze. Her hunch had been right after all. There _was_ a certain someone on this road. Her ears strained against birdsong as she quickened her pace, trying to race against the clock and find that pitiful soul on this stinking dirt ribbon.

Suddenly, she heard it.

A swarm of music gushed to her ears, overwhelming her silence. Her feet faltered as she beamed, revealing pointed teeth of a dragon. She was on time. She had her golden opportunity right here and waiting for her. The notes were high in tone and quick in succession, proving the song to be a light, cheerful piece used for entertaining tavern-goers and drunken men alike. The song echoed in her mind as she could feel her fingers tingle with the desire to play this precious ballad. She struggled to stay silent as she stalked the edge of the path, maneuvering herself through bushes and low-hanging tree branches. Her eyes wandered across the golden plain as she searched for the traveling minstrel, the source of the music. The joyous song, a tone retelling the legend of the Hero-King, grew louder and louder as she slipped through the greens of the roadside. She had to catch that traveler, and soon. The woman knew that this road led to a small village trapped in a skirmish and if she reached that little spot before she caught her, it would make everything just that much harder.

Luckily for the dragon-woman, her target came into sight.

Dressed in a purple robe with golden accents, a young woman with her chocolate hair pulled back into a ponytail and a supporting braid pranced down the path with ivory pipes pressed to her lips. Her brown boots hardly touched the ground as her fingers flew over the small holes and released or trapped blasts of breath, releasing the notes of her signature creation. The hidden enemy's lips drew back into a snarl as she found her past self the one before her, just as she had thought. This tactician's eyes were clear of the burning colors of fire and instead contained the sweet hues of chocolate, proving her to be long before joining with her other half.

Robin planned to change that very shortly.

With a silent chuckle, the time-traveler stepped out of her little hiding spot with noiseless steps, leaving hardly a print behind. She slowly crept up closer to her past self's pirouetting form with her Wrymsblood shimmering menacingly in the rising sun. From where she was standing, she could clearly see the sheath draped across the unaware tactician's back, still housing the only blade she owned. Her grin returned as she lifted her blade in front of her and narrowed her eyes.

"Long way from Ferox, aren't you dear?"

The Robin of the past spun around in horror as she found herself catching a glimpse of what seemed just like her reflection, a perfect copy of herself in almost every way. However, just one glimpse into those glowing orange orbs set her heart in motion, warning her that this was no mirror. She was in the middle of nowhere and alone with someone who looked just like her. The thought of that made her shiver, giving the attacker a bit of warmth in her chest.

"J-Just who do you think you are?!" The brown-eyed Robin jumped to a fight-or-flight stance, her eyes wide with confusion. The traveler did not respond, she simply lifted her sword just a bit higher and shot her past-self a grin. "Look here, you freak! I will cut you to ribbons if so much as take another step towards me! I demand an explanation for _this_!" She angrily swatted the air before taking her unoccupied left hand and reaching for her sword on her back.

The Robin with glowing eyes just grinned and shook her head. "All the explanation _you_ need is that I'm here to take what belongs to me." She took a slow step forward before continuing, "That, and that you will not survive this little encounter with me, sweetheart." The helpless victim's eyes became nothing more than brown orbs with black dots in the dead center as her hand faltered on her weapon's hilt. The future-Robin could see it all, the panic in her stance, the desperation in her reaching hand and the fear seeping from her stare. She tightened the grip on her Wyrmsblood and with a twisted grin, she rushed forward.

The pipes in her hand were thrown into the neighboring field as the Robin of the past rushed backwards with the lightest of steps, slipping just inches from the blackish-red blade. Her hand finally curled around her weapon and with a frantic yank of the hilt, a newer, more red version of the Wyrmsblood slipped into view. Her opponent grinned only seconds before launching another attack, this one a quick slash at her right side. The younger tactician leaned heavily to her right, her blade raised to block an attack to her neck. Another blade strike came quickly, this time coming straight for her right side. With her balance thrown by her sloppy dodge, the blackened blade connected with ease. A flash of red overwhelmed both Robins' vision as blood rushed out from the wound. Reeling backwards, the brown-eyed Robin clutched her new wound and growled at her future self.

The woman with the sullied blade just laughed at the fresh droplets of red in the clearing. "Looks like all that mercenary work in Ferox isn't working for you, dear." Satisfaction slipped in her veins as she watched the injured woman remove her shaking hand and allow the fresh blood to shimmer in the sun. Brown eyes lingered on the guilty party before snapping back to her own blade. "Striking down a few thieves and collecting a few coins doesn't prepare you for facing yourself, dear."

The Robin before her just shuddered from the pain before glaring at the woman and gripping her sword with both hands. "Look," she gasped. "I don't know who you are, why you look like me or even know a thing about me..." Her eyes narrowed further with pain before she managed to continue, "But I _am_ going to make you sorry that you ever found me." The wounded brunette grinned before lifting her chin with a bit of arrogance. "You see, they call "The Wolf of Blood" for a reason and I'd be more than happy to demonstrate!"

Suddenly, the self-proclaimed Wolf of Blood's body started to glow a faint violet as the Robin of the future just stood there in curiosity. The glow billowed out of her skin like smoke, wrapping around her arm and spreading to her sword's blade. The cornered tactician's eyes fluttered shut before snapping open with sharp, linear pupils and eyes as bright as an orange, seemingly glowing just as the ones across from her. Then, moving one foot backwards, she abruptly launched herself at the woman with amber-edged eyes with her blade extended. The tip of Wyrmsblood's crimson blade cut clean through her opponent, passing through the strange woman's torso as if it were made of air. The Robin of the past gasped for oxygen as she stood there, still in position behind her enemy. The wound on her side dripped with agitated crimson, spluttering on the ground and crashing at her feet with red rain. Her eyes remained downcast as she waited, searching the air for a gurgled gasp or the sound of collapsing legs. Frantic heartbeats passed with silence, confusion and worry seeping in her body from her open gash. Reluctantly, the brunette turned her head to find with raw fear that the woman was completely unscathed and grinning at her, a ghost of a laugh slipping into the air.

"Terribly sorry, dear." The Robin of the future calmly stepped towards the rigid woman. "I'm afraid a little Lethality attack is useless against the fell dragon." The orange melted from the bleeding brunette's eyes as her pupils widened in horror and she stumbled backwards, clumsily trying to turn around and face the approaching woman. Her mouth fought to speak as the pain raced up her side, hot and throbbing.

"Y-You...you can't be..."

The orange-eyed Robin just laughed as she slipped into the same stance her counterpart had used only minutes ago. "I'm afraid so, tiny one." Her voice suddenly grew faint and echoing at the same time, gaining an undertone of menace. "I am _Grima_, and you are going to die." The purple glow of Lethality seeped of out of her skin as she let her blade line up with the motionless, bleeding Robin standing before her. Letting her right foot slide back, she crouched slightly and sprung forward with a laugh.

The golden grass of the field was bathed in red.

Grima smiled as Robin fell to the ground, surrounded by stained grass in the center of a patch of lilies. Flecks of red splashed white petals as the brunette let her head fall back, her back embraced by the shaking grass and her wound exposed to the warm air. Grima's eyes gleamed as she slowly stepped towards her prey. The young woman on the ground sputtered, releasing a trickle of red that shimmered on her pale skin. The brunette lifted her chin slightly in triumph as she looked down upon her so-called past self. A flash of movement caught her eyes and she quickly found the fallen tactician's right hand reaching to the side, trying to grasp her fallen sword. The dragon in human flesh just laughed at her efforts before kicking the Wyrmsblood away with a huff.

"I knew you were weak, but this was even worse than I expected." Her voice had now gained a slightly deeper, more alluring tone as she sneered at the faintly breathing woman. "I suppose that taking your power for myself will be a bit easier than planned." She lifted her right hand slightly and kneeled beside Robin with a grin, relishing in the scent of fear and the metallic reek of blood. Her claws dripped with a few stray drops of scarlet, trailing from her tips and splashing to the ground to further paint the scene of Robin's fall. With a deep inhale, Grima focused her power to her raised hand and watched as her skin was swallowed by purple flames.

Brown eyes fluttered open with a cringe of excruciating pain to find the time-traveler holding the burning hand towards her, slowly closing in on her chest. The woman's eyes bulged as she tried to move away, agitating her wounds and coaxing more precious blood to flee from her gashes. Grima just chuckled before violently stabbing her claws into the brunette's chest, causing her to scream in pure agony. A vicious, ravenous pain raced through her body as her thin form shook as if shot with Thunder magic, tearing her insides apart with snapping jaws of torture. She screeched as loud as her voice could carry, each second filled with the sound of agony and suffering. The dragon-woman just beamed as she could feel energy surging through her body, fresh and clear of any obstacles.

Suddenly, Grima yanked her claws free.

Robin's body moved with her before roughly slamming back to the ground, still feeling as if it was being torn to bits by the strange purple flames. Her breath came out hot and shallow as she struggled against the pain. Her mind slowly but surely felt like it was being stuffed with wool, fuzzy and clear of any sort of images. She felt numb; the attack was so powerful, she was starting to lose her grip on what was right in front of her. Her vision blurred and she struggled to feel _anything_, even the excruciating pain she had experienced only heartbeats before. Her right hand weakly reached for something, anything she could find, even if it was nothing more than air. Her mind was slowly draining of any details that she had known, even those that had happened just seconds ago. Her vision slowly melted away, leaving her with nothing but black. Her eyes then fluttered shut in defeat, submitting to the nothingness.

Grima however jumped to her feet with disgust and growled at the bleeding form. "_Pathetic_!" Her voice echoed out, cutting through the last remnants of Robin's screams. "The darkness inside of her is hardly larger than a wyvern hatchling!" Her pupils dilated with fury before they snapped back to the bloodstained grass. At such a weak state, the power she stole wouldn't be enough to return her to her proper form. The dragon found herself growling under her breath at this change of plans. If she were to kill her past self now, she would have to regain her powers by using the Fire Emblem and millions of souls, instead of just merging with this second, newer vessel. She didn't have the time to wait for that! She might as well wait for the darkness in this weak pup to develop!

It was then that Grima had a wonderful idea.

Pointed teeth flashed as she grinned down at her faintly-breathing counterpart. That was exactly it! She would wait for this vessel to taste more anger, blood and hatred and coax the darkness within her to grow before swooping in and harvesting that power for herself. It would be as if this tiny human would be her own garden, growing her seed of Grima until it was in full bloom and ready to be plucked. A rush of warm energy seeped into her fingertips as she slowly kneeled to the ground once again, still grinning at the fallen opponent.

"It looks as if you will live through our encounter after all, tiny one." Grima slowly let her claws brush against the tactician's cheek. The warmth from her fingertips raced from her own body and surged to the wounds she had created, slowly engulfing them in dark purple smoke and coaxing them to heal. "That little bit I need from you isn't quite ready to be plucked yet, so I have no choice but to wait for you to feed it for me." Her voice lifted as she spoke, not quite with fondness but with the warmth that came from wanting something from another. "Therefore, you get to live another day." She slowly lifted the motionless form and removed her sheath, instead placing it around her healing torso. Then, careful not to jostle her wounds and effectively waste her energy by opening the wounds, she reclaimed the fallen blade of red and slipped it back in its sheath. Laying her against the stained grass, she stepped back and observed the scene before her.

The grass surrounding the unconscious tactician was stained a vibrant shade from their short-lived skirmish, tainting neighboring white lilies with metallic liquid stains. Anyone with eyes could see that someone had been gravely injured here, that much was painfully obvious to the fell dragon. However, there wasn't much she could do about such a thing. Wasting energy on prettying the landscape seemed like a foolish endeavor when her power was such a precious thing. Besides, what would a little blood hurt?

Her eyes then fell on a splash of white a ways away from her, shimmering in the sunlight. With a bewildered tilt of her head, she wandered over towards it. Her feet stopped dead once her shadow was thrown over it and she grimaced at the sight. Below her rested an elegantly carved set of ivory pipes, finely crafted by one of Ferox's best instrument makers. Carved under the mouthpiece was a fearsome dragon, its fangs exposed and tail curled around the side of the farthest pipe. Grima glared at the instrument before noticing a small detail. Right on the dragon's mouth was a splotch of red, dropped from its owner's fall. The dragon-woman grinned before taking the item for her own and tucking it away.

"I have a feeling that your memory will be practically decimated after this incident, dear." Her words were muttered, almost as if she were unconcerned with her voice being heard. "However, I certainly cannot allow you any chance of remembering the events that transpired here." Her fingers brushed against the cold ivory lovingly, as if recalling the possession from her own life. "Therefore," she grinned. "I will just take this with me as a safety precaution." Then she slipped the instrument into her robe and turned away from the small form in the grass.

"Not to worry, oh 'Wolf of Blood'." The dragon grinned as she turned back towards the road. "In a few hours a band of so-called 'Shepherds' will pass through here on their way back to the capital." Her tone was little more than a sneer as she took a few steps on the hardened dirt. "I am certain that you can trail them and pick off a few of their flock!" She then raced down the road, leaving the unconscious Robin behind her.

She might as well have some fun while she waited for her newest vessel to gain power.


	4. The Return of a Distraction

_**~Part IV: The Return of a Distraction**_

* * *

Grima could only watch on in frustration as the events before her unfolded.

Her sharp teeth glistened in the moonlight as she glared down at the star-lit clearing below. Cradled by trees and the soft rays of the moon, the grassy expanse provided a perfect place for two to gather in secret. Indeed, at this very moment two souls took refuge in the hidden field. The dragon in human skin could only watch on in disgust as the two occupiers danced in the milky rays, blades gleaming and soft laughs bubbling up into the crisp air. She couldn't stop this secret gathering as both individuals stood with their blades locked together, neither party willing to give in to the other. It was a sweet dance and yet it filled the fell dragon with nothing but anger.

Her claws dug into her skin as she clenched her right fist, exposing the branding of her host. Hidden within the dismal greens of the undergrowth and elevated by a sheer cliff of over fifteen feet, Grima was far from their watchful eyes. "You pathedic pest," she growled. "How could you become so distracted by a mere mortal?" Fury bubbled up like hot acid in her throat as she focused on the man with blue hair that had confiscated her new vessel's attention so swiftly. "You are meant to become a _god_, not a wife!" Her claws so deep in her palm that she could feel something warm and sticky slowly seep from her skin, but she ignored the sensation. Instead, she growled at the young man in the clearing and hated the very air he breathed.

This man had been such a problem in his own right during her time and here he was once again to stall progress. Every second he spent with her vessel was another step closer to his side, leading the brunette farther astray from her destiny. The blue-haired swordsman was destined to rise against her, to attempt to slay the dragon of destruction. She had managed to rid the world of such an obstacle before, but she hadn't been so lucky with his daughter. The dragon scowled at the mere thought of the young princess.

Lucina was a terrible byproduct of the blue-haired prince and the connection he held with her current vessel. Even with the death of her father and the reunion of her mother with the fell dragon, she refused to give up. It was infuriating to say the very least. A god had no time to rid her path of pests, and yet even her strongest Risen failed to cleanse the earth of her stain. Well, at least her brother proved to be much less of a problem. A simple swish of her claws and that blue-haired boy was more than taken care of. It was almost laughable to see the young Lucina running around with a mask upon her face, calling herself Marth and masquerading as a man, all the while conducting a fruitless search for the eleven other stranded children of the future—and her younger brother. However funny her goose chase was, the efforts she was making in preserving this fragile peace were a terrible threat to her security.

"Your whole family has been nothing but trouble for me, _Chrom_." Grima spat out the prince's name with a disturbing amount of hatred. "Even when I manage to kill you, your daughter just takes your place!" She let out a growl before shaking her head, whipping herself with her long ponytail. "And even when I try to change history by regaining my powers so early, your very existence jepordies my plans!" With a withheld roar of anger, she then let her left hand charge with pulsing electricity before spinning around and launching it at a nearby tree's trunk. The orb of energy burned through the rough bark with ease, leaving a great black scar on the wood and a sharp crackle in the air. Grima just stood there, shoulders heaving and gasping for air. She had more than enough of her fair share of blue-headed, exalted family members! All she wanted was an easy rise to power!

Was that _so _unreasonable to ask for?

Against her better judgement, orange eyes shifted back to the clearing below. Nausea rose to her throat as she found the man of her frustrations standing there with a smile on his face and his hands resting on her new vessel's arms, gazing at her brown eyes as if they were the first thing he had seen in his whole life. The once-proclaimed Wolf of Blood just stood there with wide eyes and bright cheeks, ignoring the painfully obvious fact that she was to eventually become a god—or, a god's host to be perfectly accurate. Grima let out another roar of anger before yanking her claws free of her own skin and spreading her hand wide, glaring at the pool of crimson resting in the very center.

Slowly the palm of her hand began to glow with a familiar purple fog, the violet smoke slipping between her fingers and curling around her exposed wrist within heartbeats. The dragon's lips split with satisfaction as she turned her back on the sickening display and focused on the growing mist in her hand.

Sure, Prince Chrom was a handful even in her time when he was sporting a gaping scar on his back, but this one would be much worse if left to roam freely. No, as the mighty fell dragon, she could not allow the future Exalt of Ylisse advance to escape harm in a future battle. Instead she would do everything in her vast power to keep him as minor a oobstacle as possible. Luckily for her, her twisted and brilliant mind had a perfect plan.

With a twisted grin, Grima let out a long exhale and sent the smoke billowing from her palm. The violet smoke gracefully swirled to the grass and became ten miniature tornadoes, pirroetting around itself and slowly shifting shape. The smoke became pale, groaning forms of flesh with beady red eyes and scarred faces, each one armed with an iron weapon designed to kill. The fell dragon grinned at her created barbarians, soldiers, knights and archers before turning towards the clearing below and pointing to the conversing duo in the center of the moonlight.

"Aim for the prince with blue hair!" Her voice rumbled with her anger as she glared at the oblivious tactician and lord. "I want you to kill, maim and wound! Don't let him leave this clearing without bleeding!"

The creatures looked down at the designated target for a few moments before yowling their confirmations and launching their decaying bodies off the cliff, charging ahead blindly to follow through with their orders. Their commander just watched in solemn silence as the brunette below perked up before facing the oncoming enemies and shouting a warning, startling her partner into collecting his abandoned Falchion from its resting spot in the ground and facing their enemy. A flash of crimson proved that Robin had drawn her Wyrmsblood from its sheath and was already charging ahead in a familiar sort of bloodlust, leaving her partner to race after her with scolding shouts.

Threat or not, she was not going to stand around and ignore the accursed leader of the Shepherds. Even if she could not force her vessel away from the alluring trap of affection, she would do everything she could to try and stall the dreaded day that they would be united as two halves to a whole and bring yet another obstacle into her world. She was going to try her hardest to eliminate that horrid man before he grew too powerful and posed a very real threat to her success. Risen, Grimleal...she would throw all she had if it meant killing him before the birth of his daughter. Having one Lucina to deal with was more than she wanted, let alone having a second one in the cradle just waiting for her chance at revenge.

She was going to show them the full extent of a dragon god's wrath.

* * *

_Author's Note: Hey there! So, I've been thinking things over and I'm unsure if I want to leave this story on my side. I've recently returned to updating my main account and I couldn't help but think that this story would do better on my main. So, the question is, would you be bothered by having it moved to **Illusion Of Insanity?** I would have to delete this story temporarily to do so. _

_Also, please don't hesitate to tell me how you're feeling about the story so far! It really lets me judge how I'm doing by your feedback._


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